1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector having individual shell for shielding against electromagnetic interference (EMI).
2. Description of the Prior Art
To protect an electrical connector from EMI, a conventional connector assembly for transmitting high speed signal usually includes a connector unit with a shielding plate received in an receiving cavity and an outer shell enclosing the connector assembly. Such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,504 issued to Espenshade on Feb. 3, 2004 discloses an electrical connector including an insulative housing defining a first receiving cavity and a second receiving cavity, a plurality of terminals disposed in the first receiving cavity, a contact unit received in the second receiving cavity with a shielding plate envelopping thereon, and an outer shell enclosing the insulative housing. The outer shell enclosing the insulative housing includes a top wall and opposite side walls. The top wall and opposite side walls define a chamber for substantially enclosing the insulative housing. The top wall has a bent section defining a plurality of holes thereon, and each side wall has a plurality of latches formed thereon for engaging with a corresponding hole of the top wall and securing the top wall to the side walls. The side walls have a plurality of grounding tails for electrically connecting to a printed circuit board.
However, the outer shell is made of metallic material and should have enough length and width for enclosing the insulative housing. It requires a great quantity of metallic material for forming the outer shell, so the cost of manufacturing the electrical connector is inevitably high. Furthermore, the top wall and side walls of the outer shell should be connected together via the engagement between the latches and the holes of the outer shell. It is a complicated process of manufacturing the outer shell.
Hence, an improved electrical connector with improved shielding is needed to solve the above problem.